Archive for March, 2010
Puppy Heeling
March 31st, 2010
There should be a few rules to teaching a puppy to heel.
1. Keep it short
2. Keep it fun
3. Dont worry too much about details or drilling
Here is a video of Blaze heeling – I do a few short spurts of forward motion, try to turn my hand out to reward him, and do some backwards walking. This will encourage him to learn to use his rear end which is especially helpful for turns.
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Kong Wobbler Review
March 24th, 2010
Well it came! My new Kong Wobbler. After all the excitement, I can finally share my thoughts about how it really is.
Here are my pros and cons:
Pros: dishwasher safe, not too loud, pretty easy to fill, reasonably priced
Cons: I think its a little big for smaller dogs, toy dogs could NEVER use this. There is no difficulty setting – its equally difficult or easy for all dogs. My puppy doesn’t get it at all 
My dog could unscrew it. I found it difficult to screw the top on.
Watch the video to see all my thoughts on the kong wobbler. I finally got my puppy to learn how to use this by toss a treat on the floor near the wobbler every time he nosed it. Eventually he moved it enough to get food to fall out own his own and he is now a proficient kong wobbler user in just a few hours.
and the puppy finally gets it
Wild Puppy Days
March 22nd, 2010
It always happens. A puppy who has been calm, comes when called, never chews on the wrong things, suddenly goes wild. A wild puppy can be the symptom of several things. First, it could be that your puppy is normal. Second, your puppy may need some new mental stimulation. Or three, your puppy might be ready for some structured exercise. Perhaps all three as well.
Today was that day for us, baby Blaze was a wild boy. He has been bothering Nitro all day, barking randomly, trying to chew on the rug, continually going to the back door when he doesn’t need to potty. My first inclination would be to walk him a little further than we have gone before, but Blaze has a cold so probably spreading that around the neighborhood wouldn’t be wise.
So, what to do when the wild puppy can’t exercise? Break out the old Kong. The kong if you have never seen one is like a rubber shaped snowman with a hole in the top and the bottom. You can fill it with any number of things. My personal favorites are peanut butter (all natural is best), banana, or just a few big treats that are hard to get out. The best part about this is it keeps the puppy busy for 20 to 30 minutes. As they get better at it, you have to do more difficult kong recipies but this should help your wild puppy get tired. And after all, they do say that a tired puppy is a well behaved puppy.
Another idea is to rotate your dog toys. I try to keep only a few down at a time so that as my puppy becomes bored with them, I can get new ones out. With teething just around the corner, I need to stock up on some soft toys in addition to my chew proof toys and antlers. For tonight though, I will be freezing some banana in a kong to hopefully give my puppy some more fun tomorrow that will keep him from having another wild puppy day.
Tags: Puppy with Hacking Cough
March 20th, 2010
My husband came home and called me and said – what did you do to the puppy? He apparently was acting like he was going to throw up but he wasn’t. He said it was off and on, not persistent. I got home and heard what sounded like something being stuck in his throat. It went on all through the night, off and on of course. As I paid attention to him, he seemed to have a few other symptoms, a hoarse throat, watery eyes and nose. It dawned on me, my puppy has kennel cough!
Now, I am a believer in vaccines for dogs and humans. The puppy had his first series of bordatella vaccine a few weeks prior so I think we are lucky that this is a mild case. I can tell today he is feeling better, drinking a bit more. Every once in a while you hear that barky hoarse cough.
I did call my vet and we are going in soon to get a check up. Now he could have picked this up anywhere – a neighbors dog who had been groomed and maybe wasn’t vaccinated, puppy class, anywhere dogs go really. Either way I wont be taking him to puppy class this week so we wont infect anyone else. He’ll just get some TLC for the next few days at home.
101 Ideas for Puppy Socialization
March 19th, 2010
Well, after having a new puppy in my life for a few weeks, I thought I would post my 101 ideas for socialization. Feel free to add yours! The point of all of these are to introduce your dog in a positive way to anything they may encounter in their lives.
- A large dog
- A small dog
- A fluffy dog (ever seen a dog freak out at a newfie?)
- Kids
- Babies
- Bikes
- Skateboards
- Boxes
- Agility Tunnels
- Wire crates
- Airline crates
- Lawn Mower
- Leaf Blower
- School buses
- Garbage trucks
- Kids in helmets
- People in large coats
- People with disabilities
- Wheelchairs
- Sliding opening doors
- Mirrors
- Men with beards
- People wearing baseball hats and glasses
- Fireworks (carefully people!)
- Gunfire – especially if you want to hunt your dog, again, CAREFULLY!
- Gravel
- Grass
- Pet Stores
- Dog Parks
- Swings
- Slides
- Stairs
- Deck material
- Water (safely)
- Bath tubs
- Balloons
- Bubble Wrap
- Eat out of Plastic bowls
- Eat out of ceramic bowls
- The vets office
- The vet
- Training facility
- Sand
- The beach
- Different types of brushes
- A friends house
- Elevators
- Joggers
- Cats
- Farm animals
- Party hats
- Harnesses
- Different types of leashes
- Gentle leader ( I think every dog should learn to wear one – its good for handling their faces)
- Nail clippers
- Dremel
- Dog day care – every puppy should go once or twice
- Being held by a stranger
- Having a friend hold their lead while you walk away
- Shopping carts
- Little shopping carts (that kids can push)
- Hair dryer
- Remote control cars
- Baby toys
- Toys that make noise
- Different shapes of toys
- Kongs
- Rope toys
- Tags on their collar
- Socks on their feet
- Bandanna around their neck
- Visit to the groomer
- Touching their teeth
- Rubbing their gums
- Brushing their teeth
- Walk by a barking dog (always reward your puppy for being quiet!)
- Wobble board
- Weave poles
- Go under a table
- Go under a chair
- Eat from a buster cube
- Eat from a tug a jug
- Pop some balloons
- Have their ears cleaned with baby wipes or tissues (carefully)
- Kids in costumes
- Doorbell ringing (ignore the puppy early on so they dont get doorbell barky for attention!)
- A pizza person
- A mail person
- A UPS person
- Vacuum cleaner
- A large broom
- Short jumps
- Go under a bar of some kind
- Kids running and screaming
- Kids playing a sport
- Honking cars
- Car alarms
- Standing on tables (like at the vets office)
- Elderly People
- Someone with a “different” voice
- Girls wearing long flowy dresses